West Palm Beach

If you enjoy city life, but want the relaxation of beach life close at hand, West Palm Beach real estate may be just what you are looking for. Those who live here have the best the city has to offer at their doorstep every day of the year, right near the beach. Like any city, West Palm Beach has a vibe and a story all its own. Although Palm Beach County life often revolves around the water, in downtown West Palm Beach you can actually forget for a little while that you are anywhere near it. Call on Frankel Realty Group to show you only the best homes for sale in West Palm Beach. Then, move into your new West Palm Beach home and get ready to enjoy life at a picked-up pace, with the beach close by.

West Palm Beach lies on the mainland parallel to the barrier Island of Palm Beach. Here you can walk on wide boulevards, shop in CityPlace, take lunch at a café, have dinner in any number of elegant, refined settings of your choice, see a show at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, go dancing afterwards, and end the evening with a short stroll or quick cab ride back to your comfortable in-town dwelling. Really!

There are some magnificent homes for sale in West Palm Beach, and they include everything from historic, carefully restored period homes, to condominiums with breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean, or even the city skyline. In the downtown areas of the Clematis district and CityPlace, you will find sumptuous, well-appointed condos for sale and for rent, all done up in the modern style with on-site conveniences such as a concierge at your service, or a health club with pool.

Houses in West Palm Beach are a different story. On the nostalgic, tree-lined streets of Grandview Heights, Mango Promenade, El Cid, and Southland, Prospect, Flamingo and Sunshine Parks, you will find residential areas with sidewalks flanked by mature trees and houses built in a bygone era, some hardly changed from the time of their construction in the 1920s. Entire neighborhoods here are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and once you see them, you’ll know why.

The Special Story of West Palm Beach

In the 1800s, most of this land was devoted to the growing of vegetables and tropical fruits, especially pineapples. The area today owes a lot to the legendary talents of Henry Flagler, who in 1870 was a co-founder of Standard Oil. As his career with Standard Oil drew to a close late in that century, Flagler turned his attention, fortune and vision to Florida, where he built the famous Florida East Coast Railway together with luxury hotels at each train station, where northern residents would vacation during the winter after riding down to Florida on Flagler’s trains! He also founded the towns of Palm Beach and West Palm Beach. The difference was that Palm Beach was designed as a leisure destination for the very wealthy. Flagler built West Palm Beach as a convenient place to live for those who worked in the hotels and residences of Palm Beach.

By the 1920s, West Palm Beach had taken on a flair and flavor of its own, as its residents — mostly contractors, developers, real estate salesman, shop owners, craftsmen and artisans — set about building some of the most distinctive mission and Mediterranean revival homes, and craftsman-style bungalows that you will find anywhere. Today, these homes are scooped up by those interested in protecting and preserving this era of Florida’s history, some as investors, others to live in and be part of these witness-to-history homes and neighborhoods.

City Life in West Palm Beach

A downtown renaissance begun in the 1990s has revitalized West Palm Beach. New entertainment and retail options in the form of CityPlace and the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts completed in 1992 now anchor the Clematis district. Here you’ll find trendy boutiques, fine dining, fashionable watering holes and nightclubs, if that is your pleasure. During the week look for free outdoor concerts and events held on the bustling waterfront such as charity runs, arts festivals, dance parties and every Saturday, the GreenMarket. Along beautiful Flagler Drive, the waterfront sports three new public docks (free for non-commercial vessels) where you can also walk, lunch, or people-watch. The waterfront also hosts boat shows, live performances, civic ceremonies, community picnics, and many bicycle riders throughout the year. Don’t miss Antique Row, one of the best of this type of district on the U.S. east coast. And the collections and shows of the Norton Museum of Art are a must see any time of year. The Norton also offers traveling exhibitions, educational programs, and enrichment events for children and adults.

For younger residents, there are numerous school choices. Public schools are all part of the Palm Beach County school system, and there are several private school options as well. When it’s time to get out of town, West Palm Beach is also a transportation hub, with Palm Beach International Airport right in town, and both the Tri-Rail commuter line and Amtrak trains operating from city stations. A free downtown trolley transports residents and visitors between Clematis, CityPlace and the waterfront districts, so there’s no excuse not to go from here to there.

Is owning West Palm Beach real estate for you? Our experts at Frankel Realty Group will be glad to show you the best there is, from houses for rent or for sale, to vacation rentals in West Palm Beach for seasonal visitors. Homes for sale in West Palm Beach may not be for everyone, but with Frankel Realty Group to guide you, you’ll quickly be able to see if West Palm Beach homes are in your future.